What is Blue Protocol? 2022’s Best Free Anime MMORPG

Blue Protocol is a beautiful upcoming AAA budget Anime inspired MMORPG developed by Bandai Namco, the very same development studio behind popular titles like the Tales of franchise, Scarlet Nexus, God Eater 3, Code Vein and even the upcoming Elden Ring and Digimon Survive games.
Yet even though Blue Protocol is as anticipated as it currently is, there are plenty of people out there that continue to ask me “What is Blue Protocol?” – with people even going as far as not even recognizing what the game is when I feature gameplay of it in other videos.

It is with this in mind that today I want to take several minutes of your time and walk you through what Blue Protocol is, and why players are as excited as they are.

As MMO players we’re all looking for an amazing new game to play to fill the void that is present.

I feel like one thing we all have in common as MMO players is that we’re used to disappointment. Wait, no. Well.. yes, but that’s not what I was going for. As MMO players we’re all looking for an amazing new game to play to fill the void that is present.
We’ve tried everything there is: Final Fantasy XIV, World of Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls Online. And while they’re all good in their own right, none of them really… scratch that itch for a new, next generation title I feel a lot of us are expecting to emerge any moment now.
And don’t get me wrong, we’ve got plenty of fantastic MMOs launching in both 2021 and 2022, but none of them have the same Anime aesthetic that Blue Protocol does.

Blue Protocol is a gorgeous upcoming Anime MMORPG.

Blue Protocol is an absolutely gorgeous upcoming Anime MMORPG. It’s set in a unique world filled with both magic and technology. As I noted earlier, this is being developed by Bandai Namco, a Japanese developer.
This isn’t your typical South Korean or Chinese MMO. Japan is known for making some pretty high quality titles – specifically MMOs like Final Fantasy XIV and Phantasy Star Online 2.
Traditionally, Anime MMOs utilize tab-target combat systems. I’m guessing this is in part due to the depth and complexity of Anime games or a general lack thereof.
Blue Protocol however utilizes a very fast action combat system, meaning if you’re someone with poor reflexes like myself, then you’re likely going to see yourself underperforming. Which is fine, considering there’s no functional PvP system found within the game to really require a form of competitive play.
Yes, this is a 100% PvE MMO. There is no PvP whatsoever which I’m well aware is not going to appeal to everyone as there are plenty of people out there that absolutely need PvP in a game to garner any enjoyment out of it. But on the other hand, there are equally as many, if not more players that rather have a deep PvE environment to play in.
And this right here is going to cater to those players in specific.
Combat provides players a reticle with which to aim your abilities, has quite an extensive skill system and as of their latest livestream, is making a number of alterations to provide greater class identity for players.
As an example, if you’re playing the Mage class you can opt to spec purely into a fire build and play as a fire mage. Or, alternatively, an ice mage. Or you can go full support and become a support mage.
This applies to all classes, and will give players a substantial length of freedom with which to customize your character in whatever way you want.

Blue Protocol has a large world filled with wonder.

The world of Blue Protocol is pretty large. During the last Beta test phase we got to explore a total of 2 different regions. These regions were filled with varied areas, NPCs, enemies and items to farm.
Since then Bamco have revealed a desert biome – with more planned as the game continues its development process.
I say “regions” as much like Final Fantasy XIV and Guild Wars 2, Blue Protocol utilizes a segregated world. What this means is that you’re capable of exploring everything almost without limitation, but there are small loading screens separating the regions from one another, as opposed to an MMO like WoW or BDO.
I didn’t find much issue with this, as the monsters were plentiful and there were always players moving around and between zones.
As the game is segregated, there are going to be “channels” preventing players from overloading areas. This isn’t something new, rather, many MMOs already employ a hard-limit on how many players can concurrently occupy a single space at any given time.
I was surprised that Bamco confirmed this will be between 25 to 35 players per “instance” – but there’s plenty of room here to expand that if players are concerned enough with these limitations.
The towns – of which there will be multiple, are non-combat areas that allow for an exponentially larger number of players to concurrently occupy channels, with each channel specifically allowing between 100-200 players at a time.
I saw this first hand during the Beta test when there were hundreds of players all lined up dancing in the city square. This sense of activity within the community is something I’ve been longing for for a while now.

Blue Protocol is unlike any of its competition.

Even though the game is Anime inspired, utilizes an action combat system and has a large world filled with content, what actually sets it apart from other MMOs?
There’s an interesting Imajinn system in place – Imajinn being monsters that you can summon in combat to provide beneficial bonuses to your character or be utilized to engage enemies.
Alternatively, they can be used to craft gear. Speaking of gear, interestingly, Blue Protocol has taken a unique approach to the game in terms of gear acquisition.
Where typically you find gear from monster drops, quest rewards or from slaying a boss monster, instead, in Blue Protocol you’ll farm materials and craft all of the gear yourself.
This is reminiscent of Monster Hunter, where you’ll move out to the field, to dungeons, to raids and farm the materials required to successfully craft gear that is best in slot for your respective class.
If materials are guaranteed drops from bosses, then this will in essence remove the RNG element from gear farming, and allow for players to much more easily catch up to players that started the game much earlier.

Blue Protocol looks to be releasing in 2022 in Japan and 2023 for North America and Europe.

As of August 2021, Blue Protocol is still in active development.
The team over at Bamco have confirmed that they’re making extensive progress on the game however they’re continuing to alter functions and features to better appease the playerbase in an attempt to make the best possible MMORPG they can.
We’ve been eagerly anticipating playing this since it was announced back in the middle of 2019. Yes, it’s actually been 2 whole years since we first saw the trailer.
While it was revealed via livestream that Bamco had a goal to release the game within Japan in 2021, and Western countries “the year after,” it doesn’t look as though that’s going to be a possible goal to meet.
It’s looking progressively more likely that we’ll be seeing additional Beta tests over the course of 2021, with a full release in Japan in 2022. However, if the game does end up delayed, whether we’ll still receive the game in the West “the year after” remains to be seen, as delays may be seen in other departments like localization.
Realistically, it seems plausible to receive the game in North America and Europe some time in 2023 at this rate, but I would suggest you all brace for potential news of a later release date than that, even.

Blue Protocol is one of the MMOs I’m genuinely anticipating more than any other.
It’s a gorgeous Anime game developed by a AAA developer with a very long history with Anime games, and specifically, successful titles at that.
The action combat, the Anime aesthetic, the focus on PvE content, the customization over your character – both in terms of physical appearance and your class overall, the large immersive world, the JRPG narrative we’ve all come to love.
These are facets of the game that are going to truly make it a noteworthy contender, a combatant in the fight for the MMO playerbase.

While this is going to be first and foremost a PC MMO, Bamco did confirm their intention of releasing this onto consoles, likely PlayStation consoles in specific somewhere down the line if there is a large enough interest in it.
But until then, this is likely going to be one of, if not the largest free MMORPG when it launches.
And I cannot wait to be there day 1 playing this with all of you, making this game our new home.